Prognostic role of pretreatment hematologic values and albumin-globulin ratio in canine appendicular osteosarcoma.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Pretreatment inflammatory indices are established negative prognostic factors for survival in human osteosarcoma (OSA). However, studies investigating these values in canine malignancies, specifically canine appendicular OSA, are limited. The prognostic significance of pretreatment inflammatory indices in canine appendicular OSA was investigated in this retrospective study. ANIMALS AND PROCEDURE: Medical records for dogs with appendicular OSA treated with amputation and adjuvant carboplatin were retrospectively reviewed. The following pretreatment values were evaluated for prognostic significance for progression-free survival (PFS) and disease-specific survival (DSS): serum alkaline phosphatase, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio, platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio, lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio, and albumin-to-globulin ratio. Effects of proximal humeral location, presence of metastasis at diagnosis, and use of rescue chemotherapy on prognosis were also analyzed. RESULTS: Elevated albumin-to-globulin ratio was prognostic for PFS and DSS on univariate analysis but did not retain significance on multivariate analysis. On multivariate analysis, metastasis at diagnosis, elevated serum alkaline phosphatase, and administration of rescue chemotherapy were significantly associated with shorter PFS; whereas metastasis at diagnosis was significantly associated with DSS. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Despite pretreatment inflammatory indices being independently associated with prognosis in human OSA, these values were not associated with either PFS or DSS in this study. Prospective investigation with a larger, standardized cohort is needed to further evaluate the prognostic role of pretreatment inflammatory indices in canine OSA.